Method for testing draft gears



Aug. 20, 1935.

A. E. DENTLER METHOD FOR TESTING DRAFT GEARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 23, 1931 7 M v a a A M MW T V 0 fi 4 T Q V /1 .w.

Aug. 20, 1935. A. E. DENTLER I 2,011,711 I V I METHOD FOR TESTING DRAFT GEARS- Filed May-25, 951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2:

' By g/WJW' 11:31.

Patented-Aug. 20, 1935 MEETHGDTOB Arnold Emmet;cardigan; assignor to .W. H.1

.wase l 2,611,711 I t r TESTINGDRAF Ell-GEARS Miner, Inc, Chicago; ;Ill., arcor-p oration of- Dela; Application-Maytag 1931; Serial N'or 539,:513 2 Claims. (01., eta-F13) I This invention relates' to Improvements" in methbd'iortestingidraft'gears: V v is applicationfis'racontinuation-impart of appiieantrs Patent No. 1329,1281: dated: OCtobEFZ'ZL' 51* 1931," granted-fomapplication; SeriahNoq' 1881076;

fii"ed"May2l927 a V r j I I As'fis 'well'khowntto "those skilled in the railway art, draft gearsvareinachines foridissipating en-i ei'gy and preventinghigh" stress in couplertand IO raiiWay-parfstructurezi Certain" tests have peeni devise'd fdrdeterminingtheefficiencyfand 'durabilityrof-sucl kgearsr, I f V "In*making;such testsrit is the'common practice toemp'lpy a'ldrop 'ihamm'er which is;ele\ a ted to 15diifrent heights anddropped*fnomteachheight a,

number -'o'ftimes uponaclraft 'gearsupported on' a suitable anvil. Data. are thus obtainedlwhich are anindibation ofthla performance; efiicie'ncy; and 'I durabilitylof 'thegear. In order to obtainxfrom thedata: thu's procured the desired information regarding tlieability otthe gear toprevent unduly high stress, ,complicatedmaleulations' are neces sary," and'irr'manyf cases lth'eabilityrof the gear to A ;protect'the\usuallcoupler inactual service vis.n0t zlwclarlygindicatedj 1 v Itis' the mainobject of myinv'entionto provide. animprovedrtstingimethbd whereby, a direct in: dication of "the. actualperformanceofi the draft H gear is, obtziinedJlwhicli is; ;indep,endent and in.

additionjto thehusualIdatafh'ereinbefdre referred' to and which further shbws the actuallamount'bf 1' couplerset induced;therebyoclarly disclosingthe abilitmof .the gear to protect the coupler. V v Am'ore'specific-object of the inventionis to provideiiaf methodjof .testingadraftigears,wherein a column memberhaving known characteristics is. employedifor o transmitting, the impacting force imparted by a. drop;hammer;to the draft gear s alseris of iirop hamm er tests, andmcalibrationsiof s the .column, member. are: made, throughout the; testgto determine the arnountlof ,"set,- ,thusgiving", directly ..complte.informationtas .-to .the performel ance of the dramgear in actualI'seri/iceMwi-threjn spect ito.its'.-rability.to .protectlthecouplen anclfcar V "undrffa-me structure from darna'ige.. 1;

Another -object1o.the,inventi0nis toprovideia method of, testinghdraft' "gearslb'y, meanslofa ,drop ,7 hammer; includingglth'e following steps: Support' ing, the draft IgearorLIthean'vfl member. ofa drop 1' :hammer; superimposingaifollowen member on T the gear; .inte'rposingja column;.memb'er, having, v known'flcliaractristics' between theffoll'ower andf V -the"hammerj elevating the. hammer todi'fferent V heights vand:d1i0p1". ing,' .the.same on,the;column- 5,55 mamloer a predetermined number of "times from eachheight to compress 'the'gear; measuring the overall length ofthe columnmember at made-2 termined' intervals during the testing operation to determine-the coupler setf and measuring the overall-length of thegear-at corresppnding-intere 5 vals to determine the gear set; V V

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appearfrom the description and claims herein-1 i I In-thedrawingsiorming apart of this specifi 10" cation; Figure l'is a; front elevational viewer-the lower section-of atdrop hammer; such as is come 7 monly employed in'testing railwayfdrattgearsgf' illustrating certain improvements in-connectionf:

therewithfwhich aremade use of in'cagr yingputfld my improved methodof testing; 7 Figure 2i s a: horizontalsectional 'view "on an enlarged-scale; corresponding substantially to the line 2 ,2fof- Figure 1; the "drop hammer structure being*o mit ted: and-,a. certain, column member being; shown '20 injection: Fi'gure- 3 is a topplan -view'of the structure shown in Figure)? Figure/1 is ayiront elevational view, in-full lines, of "a column merh} ber employed in connection withimy improved method, the set or shortened condition of L the 25- column member aftenacertain number of impacts of the hammer thereon being, indicated ilT'dOttBdf. lines in said figure: And Figures 51am 6"are two;j diagrams or.graphs producedtfron dataobtained, in testihgxtwo different "draft gears -by myim '30- provedhmethod, p e V Insaid drawings, referring first to Figures, 1 to:

-4inclusive, l [Vindicates the anvirof 'the drop:

hammerupon whichis supported testing-frame A described in detail in Patent'No; 1,82 9,128,' here= inbefore referred to. The: draft 'g ear l If to be; tested "is-contained; withinf the irram'e A; A"fOl'-' lower plate l21is superimposedqon the gear: H:- The gear is preferably further supportedi by a: follower plate l4." Such follower pla'te;may"ob'+ 40 vi'ous1y beldispensed with' in case the gear is pro: vided withaninte r d rear foll'ow'err, The plates I2and l 4correspond in size \andf'characteristicsto the standard'frontand rearfo'llower plates'eme l e in onne tion with'..the,d !ft :r g n s .off railway, cars. QThe usual weigl t lroffthe drop; hammer is mounted between upright heavy guide i members! l5"'l5: forming. side sections of the framework of the drop, hammer, .between "which the w'eight or hammer proper; l3" isguided'fand;i50-' drop's'freely. As willjjbe understood; the weight; l3jis lifted-by suitable hoisting;mech'anism 1andi droppedas desired, 5 j The frame 'Ain'cludes an upp er'section B'which"L forms a guide for a column member Cherein"-" described. The section ofthe The lower portion includes a base platein the;;

5 ,form of a relatively heavy substantially rectangu 'larplate I6 having upright channel members" ||-.-l'|. rigidlysecured thereto. through the me-f dium ofreinforcing angle plates I 8-l 8, the latter 1 being mealeter tothe base plate l 5; by a y;

suitable meansj preferablyrivets as shown.

7 Each of the upright channel members l'll 'l comprises a-relatively wide platelike section or web l9 having outwardly pr'ojecti g flangesKZB -Z 0 at the opposite-vertical side edges" thereof. Any 'blocks 2I-2I are providedv and are dir'ectly su' the side members l1-'|1 by'bolts 22- -22 which el .men bers I,1 I 1. arerspaced apart a. distal lcev rrssp n b tahtial i of st ndard SI 3 9.'::-. ing '{between N the usual; channel shapjedw center 'anyi -ll c szl r rr on x he u uall 7w stop lugs of the draftsills. l The channel 'rnernbers pm are rigidly united by r the: rear tie plate notshcwn and the frcnt tie strap 24. The a 7 the strap 2 4 151111 the form of anelongated'rec-g; V J ela? e; and he -it e nb ereej se e edt 2 n g qedi f n s i at P1 fio w r 19-11:. EThegpbDosit ends sides of -the member e e e of e \ti'e strap lv are-preferably secured to the of the] b'oltsf to thereby permit insertion of (a l A l the' ul l er end each jchannel member I! provided lwith' a. hinge bracket plate 2 6 'suitably 1 Tsecuredtothe co responding web section l9of' the members :I 1 by nieans of a, pair of screws; To?

eachzhinge' Plate. is hinged {one of the retaining 21-4- {each ug being ,pro'ilidedf with a p'ai'r' a" ;2a:;adapted to atcbnmiodat a n lug "hingeboltZSw ichextendstthrdughlaneye formed .li zed injc'onnectir igithe detachableguide fra e Bto the main'bodygof the 'frame.A,.inaQmanner hereinafter. described. Each of the "displace'able" lugs Zlispreferablyin the-form era;

'1 retaining 99K 1 ,most' clearly shown in Figures k qnt 'lg fflg fg gch he sid o bars -'The guide frame B is adapted to be detachably connected to the main body of the frame A, theframe B being of such character that when the same is in position, it is-adaptedfor the reception of a dummy coupler or pressure transmitting column member *0 which is movably guided into contact with the draft gear follower when held by the main frame. The frame B the side v walls thereof, and provide whatare' in operationofthe pivoted retaining lugs 21-27,

;the-lower ends" of the members 33- 33" being ported {on'the base plate lfiiand are-'sfecuredto adapted to=rest' uponthetop edges of the memcomprisesl channel membersilfi tii which form bers H -ll whenthe parts are in position. The V memb er s;33 3 3 are provided with flanges 3 4-34 which are' connected together in spaced relations -by*a- 1'"e"ar plate 35,.the edges of which are secured to I said flanges bye rivets. The plate 35 a rewa d anion o'f-thef'apparatiis hate sec red-l theretopby means ofrivets bars lfl 7 fig. flushfwithfthe, upper: erfdsbf a ing'idownwardly be-J.

' Q1 sm i 5v xt i n .1 f

1 termi' ce; 'as fiiidicateidlat 3,

extends downwardlybeyondthe lowerfends of the hm e mem er M n i s qnnec d tot llll by .cletachable bolts s elfAtlthe :frontQpf the frat neat La Lpointl spacedfinwardly from the upper endlthereb'f is a'c'rosstar est, said as: Vbeing secured to the flanges s -iit' iot the side; member's 33- -33 i-b 'yr 'rn'eans Q threaded nie'm-f barging-139., t heTtop. of i th'elframe 1B a the forward sideftheIeQffis a cross barf haying F10 guide, mem r 7 similar character {which 1 35,f as bestshown in Figure (1 with afchanhel hiapea flan es, inwardl disposed, thi

' fi d ppo itely disposed to the ha nelf member 42 of 'a' ecu-red to ;the 1 plate Th upper Ma ia theate thaw ng (a at upp a d as shown o clearl-y;,in;1igureA. This tfiatsupperend ,i f-ace forsreceiving the impact of the miner. In-actualpractice testing, a

ceive the blow ,-from the harhnrienv The cl; 56 -,has a pocket :5! within which theupingtheend .of the. column from theblcws 4p gft he hammer and: preventing spreading end d?- ige ar ,is "thusheld. in: position under conditions critica i ifidathencolumn member C is actuated and ed-Ias thestandardcoupler in service.

"Tii particular. draft gear illustrated is of the trictiontypeand includes .the usual friction cashaving interior :friction surfaces with which sistancevvhichiopposes inward movetl of the shoes, v g

iththegear in,positionon the anvil of the dropphainnier, the hammer.v is first dropped a humber of times from a given predetermined height..., The. length .of the column member C isknasuredat selected intervals during this part .of i the ting operationto determine the set of df-;-,the ,gear itself. The identical operations are -then repeateizl by dropping the hammer the same number of times from each of a series of progressively increasing heights measurements 'of ijh e otipler shank and gear being made in a sinnlarf nanner, during each' stage of the operationsQ-I,In casesthe.set of the column member C atanyrtime during the test amounts to inch .in length, the same discarded and a new colummmemben substituted during the remainder of....the .ftest, this substitution being repeated each timathe setlof the column approximates inch. As lheievident the,amount of .setor the col- A t any time gives directlyan indication of lity oft-he draitgear to protect the coupler L ailway; draft rigging. Further, a coupler set exdessof inch-indic'ates that the particular .draftfgear.beingrtested has reached-the limit of i abilityflto protect the'Jcc'upIer. Comparisons nay muse ms between the efficiency of diiierent gearsiby noting the amount of coupler set of each draft, ,gear. under identical testing conditions. Eurther, a set of thecolu nn amounting to /2 inch is an. indication that the same amount of set (35 doe ,produ'ce d' by :thisparticular gear under similarconditions in a standard-coupler when the gear is in service on a railway car. Ina coupler hauingthis amount of set, the coupler head will i the impact-directly tcithe striking castthe'standard clearance between the coupler gandthewstriking casting of a car being app Ximately /2:i-nch. I 1

The dataobtained Las to the amount'of gear qset as compared with the amount of coupler set are elsorof irnportance in my method of testing,

cl; 591 1115; placed on topct-thecolumn to di- Qfrithe column 0 is telescoped thereby with (those encountered in actualpracmuss system, comprising shoes and a: wedge ooperatesJThe casing also contains a- 100 '060 pounds.

.uiesam if any. The same'measurement is made i t capacity of t gear i t gb i 1391 2 amereives anpindication ofrthem'oiumn strength -.an d rruggedness ofiithe .geanziniactual .service. J i

The diagram cshownrin liigurerrfwzislillustrative of ithe datai obtained; byrmwimprouedtmethodvpf testing and showsgraphically:theicoupler.:setand gcareset; produced at. different astagesain thertestring of; an .efiicient: draftsearwhich-properly protects the coupler; and they underframe structme and body .or" the car. In thispriiagram rsteppefl .heavy line .a-' -a indicates :the .heightifromewhich .the hammer, isrdropped atssuccessive mtageszsin :th'e testing operation; .linef; b-:b the :capacity act the gear, linen-.0 :the ,zsill pressure, 11i1'1e.'Zd-d the 1 coupler; 5,817'1Whi6h corresponds LtOithBi set :sof ,the-icolumn employed;andgline-g-g:the;gear;set.

With referenceto theiline 'a-ra,;theiheight:measuredalong the verticalaxis of itheidiagram indk cates in inches the vertical distance;theihammer is dropped, each space between two :horizontal .lines. ,Of the diagram .-c.orrespondingr:to .lazineh.

The ,distance from left to might-measured; along thehorizontal axis of, .the .diagramzindicatestthe successive stages of the testing .cperationuithe vertical linev one-spacefrom'thezleftredge toffthe diagram indicating the .firstqstageithe nextiline to the right indicating the :secondastage, :and the other line successivelyjndicating'the stagesmhich ;foiloW.

The height measured; alonglthe .vertic'al axis indicates, the pressure i in apoundsmwithae'fer-cnce :to ;the lines;b;-.b. and-.c.c,--each' spacezbetween two horizontal llines iindicating 1525,0110

pounds and the fast horizontalLline-at rthe dicttom of the diagram.indicating-:aupressuremof Thus rthe :SucceSsiveiintersectionsrof "the phorizontal;lineszwithzthewertical axis reading from the bottom to :the top :of Ethe';.diaram indicate 1001100; pounds: 125 000 :pOuHdS, 1.50960 pounds, .etc. ifIheiline ;b-'4b,-':representing ing on each yertical line; in -accordance .iwiththe scale ofipounds:hereinbefore'.setkforth, the'gear V 1 capacity .at .the height ithe hammer-- is dropped at the {stage 10f ithe testing i operat'ion indicalted byathat particular .vertical lineiran d. marking the'.

point :found. The apointsfrthus obtainedon the successive vcrticallines corresponding :to the successive stages of the testingoperation are then connected. to .produceothe vlineb-di. "The 'line .070, :representing the sillpressure, is=produced in the rsamexmannerias the linebb,- the sin pressure in pounds .lbeing measured-successively along the :vertical lines representing the successive stages tof. ithe Jtesting=operation. WVith' reference to lth e lines. d,-dand g-g, the heights measured. along the vertical :axis bf the diagram in-eEigurefi .by :the horizontal lines indicatein each instance Kthe amount of set-or shortening of eitherthe coupler-sharikor the draft-gear; each division-:representing 4- finch." -"I hese-me'asments are designated at theu ig'ht-hantl side'fiin the .diagramrin Figure fi. 1 To obtain the =line's dad and g-'g, the amountof set-ateadhstage of the testing operation is measured along the corresponding: Lvertical line, and the-points thus obtained are connected. In obtairiing thedata given :by this diagram; =a 9;!)00-pound hammer is employedyand the steps :of my improved method areperformed in :the following-mannerr-"I'he V hammer. isfirst dropped on the-column member C superimposed on-thegear H from a'heiglit ef 19 inches, as :indicated .?by the first :step in the line en-ea; The hammer is :dropped twenty five times from this heightand bothithe column-memheiwand rthe geariare measured at intervals flur cessively compressing said draft gear and subjecting the column member to compression forces, said hammer being dropped from diiferent predetermined heights and from each height a predetermined number of times to deliver a pre- Y, determined number of blows during the complete testing operation of said gear, measuring the 7 length of said column member intervals during the testing operation, comparing said measurements in length with the original predetermined length of the column member to determine 'the amount at predetermined of shortening of said column member at the time each measurement is taken; continuing said testing operation after each measurement has been taken; discarding said column member and substituting a like column member therefor if any measurement taken shows the column member as having been shortened to a predetermined extent corresponding to the permissible maximum shortening of a standard coupler in service; and continuing said testing, operation of said draft rigging in a like manner until the test has been completed, thereby obtaining, through the count of the number of column members employed during said completed test, an indication of the performance of said gear as a shock absorbing means.

' ARNOLD E. DENTLER. 

